Supermicro X11 Solutions for Intel Xeon Scalable Processor Family

Supermicro has an absolute ton of products out for the new Intel Xeon Scalable Processor Family launch. The new products are dubbed the “X11” generation and encompass single through quad socket platforms. Supermicro caters to a diverse set of IT infrastructure buyers so they have one of, if not the most diverse set of products for the Sklake-SP / Purley platform launch.

Supermicro Naming Convention By Generation

Since we get asked this, here is often, here is the easy decoder ring:

X8 was Nehalem-EP and Westmere-EP LGA1366 generation

X9 was Sandy Bridge-EP and Ivy Bridge-EP LGA2011 generation

X10 was Haswell-EP and Broadwell-EP LGA2011-3 generation

X11 is the Skylake-SP LGA3647 generation

Assuming the next generation chips will use the same sockets, we would expect that generation to be the future upgrade path for Supermicro X11. That is subject to Intel and Supermicro roadmaps.

New Supermicro X11 Solutions for Intel Xeon Scalable Processor Family

Supermicro has several business models that dictate why they are releasing an absolute ton of products based on the new Xeon family. Supermicro is growing rapidly in selling to enterprise customers and hyper-scale customers directly. More traditional models are selling through value-added resellers (VARs) and other channel partners. A third model is as an OEM. A common model in the Silicon Valley is that a software startup needs an appliance to sell and they work with Supermicro to launch an appliance. Nutanix is a good example of a company that followed this model.

Supermicro X11 Skylake SP Launch Image

As a result, Supermicro is refreshing major server lines such as storage arrays, its Ultra server lines, retail (e.g. EATX motherboards), BigTwin platforms (we reviewed the original BigTwin), Simply Double arrays as well as a number of customer-specific platforms. The company has a wide range from a single socket to quad socket solutions available for the new platform at launch.